Scientific curiosity brings together Nobel laureates, scientific figures and students in Donostia-San Sebastian
Around 242 students and teachers talked to prominent scientific figures. Promoting an interest in science and research is the main aim of this meeting organised by the DIPC. Telefónica presented a prize for the most interesting, original or fun question.
The top@DIPC Zientziarekin solasean! meeting took place on Thursday 28 November at the Eureka! Science Museum (Zientzia Museoa), in San Sebastian, where secondary and high school students and teachers met with the Nobel laureate in Chemistry Jean-Pierre Sauvage, the President of the European Physical Society, Mairi Sakellariadou, and the Vice-President of CERN’s Scientific Policy Committee, Pilar Hernandez. After talking about their passion for science, their careers and experiences in their scientific work, the guest speakers answered questions from the students attending the event.
Around 242 students and teachers from 41 schools in the Basque Country took part in this fourteenth edition of the meetings that are organised by the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC). This event has always been extremely popular with the education community. The event began with a brief introduction by Ander Aizpurua, Director General of the Kutxa Foundation, Javier Benito, Director of Telefónica Euskadi and Adolfo Morais, Deputy Minister of Universities and Research from the Basque Government’s Department of Science, Universities and Innovation. The students then took the floor and, for an hour and a half, had the opportunity to put their questions to the guest scientists.
Jean-Pierre Sauvage remarked that young people are the future and urged them to “put innovation above all other considerations when choosing the projects they want to launch”. Mairi Sakellariadou spoke to the young audience, stressing that “an early education in science ‘opens the eyes’ of the mind, awakens curiosity and helps to combat obscurantism”. Finally, Pilar Hernández noted that “in a world where the truth seems to be open to interpretation, science shows us that there are certainties about the world around us, which allow us to understand it, and in many cases to use this knowledge to improve people’s lives”. “Science is advancing because there are young people like you who are curious to understand the world and ask the questions that matter”, added Hernández.
The Prince of Asturias Award winner, Pedro Miguel Echenique, Professor Emeritus of the UPV/EHU and President of the DIPC, moderated and chaired the meeting again this year. In his closing speech, he emphasised that “science is a seed that transforms society. Science is essential if we are to move towards a society with greater social and economic well-being, with more critical thinking and less susceptibility to manipulation, a more humane society”. “I urge you to work diligently and tirelessly to contribute to science and progress”, Etxenike told the crowd of students present at the event.
Telefónica, a trustee of the DIPC, once again took part in the meetings and awarded a prize for the most interesting, original or fun question. The winning student was Libe Bercedo Barriola from Aldapeta Ikastetxea for her question: “Given the growing interconnection between string theory and emergent quantum gravity, to what extent can our scientific tools and human interpretative capacity limit our understanding of these phenomena?”. According to Telefónica, the winning question was awarded “for addressing a significant issue with far-reaching implications for science: the instrumental and intellectual limits that go hand in hand with observation in scientific research”.
The main aim of the top@DIPC Zientziarekin solasean! meeting is to promote an interest in scientific and technological studies among young Basques, and to awaken a passion for knowledge in them. It is organised by the DIPC, with the support of the Basque Government’s Department of Science, Universities and Innovation, the Kutxa Foundation and Telefónica.
